


The Pumpkin Juice Incident

by MalfoyIsOurKing



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Party Games, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-09 13:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7803553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalfoyIsOurKing/pseuds/MalfoyIsOurKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the pumpkin juice gets spiked, Harry just can't escape the spotlight. Harry realised that this year is going to be as hard as the others even without evil lurking around the corner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this story on Fanfiction.net under the user potters.spn, but I decided to post it on here instead. Enjoy!

Harry picked on the sausages on his plate as the normal morning owls showed up. He saw from the corner of his eye that Hermione get her Daily Prophet and was paying the owl, who clicked her beak appreciatively. Hermione opened up the newspaper and the pictures moved around as she read the Headlines.

He didn't see any point in still getting the Prophet, after the war the articles were nothing but forced. The journalists didn't have anything to write about, so they started making things up, not that that's uncommon for them. Hermione let out an annoyed huff as she put down the newspaper and returned to her food. He saw the article she was looking at, his face moving in one of the picture and rolled his eyes. _Don't they have better things to write about than me_?

Harry looked around, he saw familiar faces and smiled to himself. Maybe the war didn't change that many things? However, deep down Harry knew that the smiles his fellow students wore were either fake or first in many month. Everyone has lost someone in the battle, whether it was a family member, friend or a random classmate, the impact was big.

Harry knew that without his friends he probably would have slowly slipped into depression thinking about all the deaths, but his friends made sure to occupy his mind. He felt alone most of the time after Hogwarts, so when the letter came to invite him to his Eighth year, he couldn't felt happier. He felt like he was finally going home. Hogwarts has always been a better home than anywhere, even Grimmauld Place; it just reminded him of Sirius too much.

Most Gryffindors came back for Eighth year, it felt almost like the war didn't happen and they were in the Seventh, except of the empty feeling that some of the deceased students should have filled. Harry looked up and down the Eighth year table to see the other returnees, frowning at how little there were. He knew that his year didn't have many people, but couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy as he realised that his year has gotten even smaller.

Harry reached for his glass of pumpkin juice, deep in thought. As he pressed the cup to his lips, he realised the juice smelled nothing like pumpkin juice usually does. It smelled of hair gel, broom polish and a smell that reminded him of the Burrow. He was slightly put back by the smell, but he thought it was some of the most beautiful smells he ever had the pleasure to endure. He was about to take a sip when the cup was hit away from his lips and fell on the floor. Some people turned to look at Harry with facial expressions he couldn't decipher, but he decided he had better things to worry about.

"Hermione? What the hell? I was drinking that," He said as he saw that Hermione was leaning over the table, he waved his wand and the cup came back to the table, once again filled with pumpkin juice.

"It doesn't seem right, I think it's been tempered with," She said as she took Harry cup and smelled it, "What does this smell like?" She shoved the cup under Harry's nose.

"Um, broom polish? The Burrow and, um, hair gel. Why?" Harry watched Hermione's face look like she was suppressing a laugh for a split second, but turned serious again.

"I knew it, it's Amortentia, I have to tell McGonagall - Ron! No, don't drink that," Hermione grabbed Ron's cup and snatched it out of his hand, "Have you even been listening to what I said? It's spiked with Amortentia. Tell the other while I go to McGonagall," She rushed off to the teacher tables as Harry and Ron ran around the Eighth year table and managed to save just about everyone from the spiked drink.

Harry thought of going to the house tables to inform the lower years, but as he glanced up he noticed a few people looking at him with giant smiles and wide eyes. He let out a groan as he knew what happened; they were already under the influence of the potion. Great, Harry thought, Just what I need, another group of admirers. He quickly sat down and tried to hide his face so no one else sees him. He heard some footsteps towards him and looked up to see Hermione coming back. From the corner of his eye, he saw three figures stepping from his table and walking towards the door, but before he had the chance to see who it was, the Headmistress began talking.

"Attention, please. I have just been informed that the pumpkin juice has been tempered with. It has been poisoned with Amortentia, for those who don't know what that is yet, it's a powerful love potion, not to be messed with. We nearly had a death two years ago because of some foolishness while handling it. I must emphasize how important it is to take your friend, or anyone, for that matter, to the hospital wing if you see them acting strange. The culprit will be found and punished, messing with powerful potions isn't going to be let off easily. Please, continue with your breakfast, but be wary of the pumpkin juice," the Headmistress stepped down and walked between the tables, rushing out the door.

"Probably going to the kitchen," Ron said, "Stupid house-elves can't handle a drink without messing it up,"

"Ron!" Hermione said and hit him on the arm, she looked like she was going to start going on about SPEW again, but realised there was no point.

"Can we get out of here?" Harry asked, looking around the Great Hall at a few people who stood up and were walking his way.

"What? I'm hungry," Ron said as he sat down again. Harry sighed and stepped away from the table.

"Okay, but I'm not going to sit and wait to be ambushed by my newly made fan club," Harry said and pointed towards some girls making their way over.

"Oh," Hermione said, "Go, I'll take care of them."

"Thanks," Harry said and walked towards the door, making sure not to be confronted by one of the poisoned.

* * *

"Stupid Potter still has admirers, is this first year again? Why was everyone practically drooling over him?" Draco spat as he, Pansy and Blaise walked out of the Great Hall. They walked out as they saw McGonagall getting ready for another speech; they had enough of them already, all 'house unity' and 'the past is the past', wasn't it enough that all eighth years have to share one common room? The whole 'House Unity' bullshit is just that, bullshit.

"Is Draco getting jealous?" Blaise said in a childlike voice, skilfully dodging Draco's fist coming at his face, "Whoa, easy. We all know you were one of his first year admirers, just because he humiliated and rejected you in front of all the first years doesn't mean you didn't love his deep, deep down," Blaise dramatically put a hand over Draco's heart, this time dodged too slow and Draco hit him right on the jaw. He made an angry sound.

"We all know you deserved that punch," Pansy said, as they approached the lake in the courtyard "But Draco, darling, we also all know that you've been crushing on Potter since forever. Last couple of years, it was all messed up; Dark Lords this, Dark Lord that. But this year you can be yourself, no Dark Lord to tell you who you love and who you don't,"

"You're lucky I don't hit girls," Draco said as he sat down on the grass, looking out onto the lake, "And, please, for the love of Salazar, don't call it 'love',"

"Draco, we are 18! You need a little love in your life, and we all know you are about as straight as an eight," Pansy sat down next to Draco and sneaked her arm around his waist, "Darling, you know I want the best for you. I want you to be happy. Just go for it, what's the worse that can happen?"

"I will get humiliated! I'll forever be known as the guy that Our Saviour rejected," Draco buried his face in the crook of Pansy's neck and started taking deep breaths.

"Hey, this is a step forward, at least he didn't completely deny that he wants Potter," Blaise said as he sat down on the other side of Draco, still rubbing his jaw.

"Shut it, Zabini," Draco snapped, "I don't even know how you two got a hold of that information."

"Sorry, darling, but you really are bad at keeping secrets," Pansy said, "We're only a week into this school year and you already ranted to us about him approximately 20 times, plus you just can't keep your eyes off him- I mean he did get quite good looking since in our seventh year but-"

"Okay, Pansy, I get it, stop going on about him like that," Draco lifted his head from Pansy's shoulder and laid back on the grass, "So, knowing what you know, are you going to mock me about it or help me?

"Well, help you, of course," Pansy said as she laid down next to him, Blaise leaned against a tree next to them.

* * *

Harry walked out of the Entrance Hall into the courtyard and immediately regretted it. He was ran into by a short girl who enveloped him into a tight hug.

"Harry James Potter!" She exclaimed, looking up at his face with big glassy eyes, "I can't believe I ran into you! It's fate! We were meant to be together, Harry! I know we are! I love you!"

A crowd started forming around them as he tried freeing himself out the girl's arms, which have trapped his. He looked around at the crowd hopefully until a boy stepped out and walked towards them.

"Hey, Lydia, come with me to the Hospital Wing, Harry will come to us in a minute, right, Harry?" The boy, wearing Ravenclaw cloaks, asked Harry, nodding his head.

"Yeah, of course, um, Lydia, go to the Hospital Wing, I'll meet you there," Harry said, the girl, Harry noticed her yellow tie, loosened her grip on him and nodded sleepily, which reminded Harry of Luna, following the Ravenclaw (to which Harry gave a thankful smile) back inside the castle.

Harry sighed and carried on walking down the path, avoiding everyone's stares (he's gotten good at that over the years). He found a nice place behind a bush to sit and laid down on the grass, looking over at the lake, observing a the Giant Squid bobbed in and out of the water. _Why is it always me?_

 


	2. Chapter 2

Draco watched as Harry lay down on the grass a few feet away from him, obviously oblivious to the Slytherins near by. He watched as he rubbed his hands over his face and crossed them behind his head, causing his shirt to life up a little. Draco stared at the patch of exposed skin, he couldn't help but wonder how he would look nake-

"Draco!" He was snatched from his thoughts as Pansy jabbed him in the ribs, "It's rude to stare, unless you want to go up to him and tell him something?"

"Don't be daft, Pansy, he hates me," Draco sighed as he sat up and put his head in his hands. _Why the Golden Boy? Couldn't I have a crush on someone actually obtainable? Well, it's not that bad, to be fair, could've been the Weasel..._ Draco thought as he resumed to looking at Harry.

His eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling steadily. He looked so relaxed. _He never looks like that around me,_ Draco thought, _He always looks angry around me, like he's ready to hex me into oblivion._

"Don't say that," Pansy said, "You don't know that. Maybe he's just pretending because he thinks you hate him too?"

"Listen, Draco, just get this over with. Go over there and tell him instead of drooling over him," Blaise said, restraining himself from adding 'it's kind of pathetic' to not get another punch.

"Blaise, don't pressure him. He'll do it when he's ready, right?" Pansy asked. Draco nodded but he knew he will never be ready.

"Can we go please? I think he's about to be ravished by his fan club," Draco said, nodding towards a group of girls making their way over to Harry, "I don't really want to see that."

"Yeah, let's go," Pansy and Blaise followed Draco back into the castle as Harry was getting pinned to the ground by one of the girls.

* * *

After managing to free himself from the girls and getting someone to take them to the hospital wing, Harry made his way up to the Eighth year common room. He just could understand why there were so many of them? Surely not that many people saw him in the Great Hall? As he was walking up to the portrait, it hit him. His picture was in the Daily Prophet! Harry had his face in many magazines and newspapers lately, much to his displeasure, but could it be possible that he has way more poisoned people after his than he saw already, all because of the not consented articles written about him? He groaned at the thought that half of Hogwarts wants to confess their undying love the him. When will this end?

Harry said the password to the portrait (inter-house unity) and stepped inside. Not to his surprise, he found Hermione and Ron sitting at their usual space, at a round table next to a big window looking out into the courtyard, and walked over to them.

"There you are, mate," Ron said as he saw Harry sitting down in his usual seat, "We saw what happened out there, we thought you might have gotten eaten alive by those crazy Hufflepuffs."

"Me too," Harry admitted. He hated always being in the spotlight. Why couldn't he just have one normal year at Hogwarts without someone trying to kill him?

"Come on, mate, it's nothing you can't handle. I mean, you're Harry bloody Potter!"

"You say that like it's something to be proud of," Harry mumbled as he looked out the window.

"Don't be like that, Harry. All Ron is saying is that you defeated Lord Voldemort, you can handle a bunch of crazy admirers," Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled before returning to her book.

"Yeah, I know."

They sat in silence as Harry looked out of the window. Ron was doing his Defence assignment and Hermione was reading a potions book. Harry noticed how Hermione was looking over at him with a curious look every now and then, and hasn't turned her page in 5 minutes.

"Is everything okay?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione who looked at him anxiously.

"I was meaning to ask you something, actually, but I don't know if I should," Hermione chewed on her lip nervously.

"Go for it," Harry said, he didn't know what question would make Hermione so nervous. She usually just smiles with that knowing look before sharing her knowledge with everyone. 

"Well, it's about what Amortentia smells like to you," Hermione shut her book and turned to Harry, "Broom polish and The Burrow, are normal, I figured it would be something like that, but I'm a little curious about the hair gel."

"What's this about Hermione?" Harry asked, sighing. Hermione never gets straight to the point, does she?

"Well, there aren't any girls who apply hair gel. I figured that your third smell would be someone you like or-"

"What's your point?"

"Do you like boys?" Hermione blurted out, some people in the common room turned to look at them, but Harry didn't pay them any attention.

"Do I- what?" Harry asked, he was taken aback by the how sudden the question was.

"Listen, I had my suspicions for ages now, and the hair gel proved my point," Hermione tried explaining herself.

"You think I'm gay because I like the smell of hair gel?" Harry nearly laughed at how crazy that suggestion was.

"Not gay," Hermione said, shaking her head furiously, "I was think, maybe, bi?"

"Bi? 'Mione, I mean..." Harry tried giving an excuse why that was the craziest idea he ever heard, but he couldn't think of one, that somehow made him mad. He wasn't bi, was he? Thinking about it, the idea didn't seem so crazy to him, maybe he was after all...

"Harry, you know I would have nothing against it, neither would Ron, right?" She gave her boyfriend tap on the shoulder.

"Yeah, mate, I'm fine with it," Ron said before returning to his homework like the conversation didn't exist.

"See? We're fine with it. I just-"

"Okay!" Harry cut Hermione off, "So maybe I might be! I understand that you're fine with, honestly I know you'd be fine with everything," Harry suddenly became enraged by the thought of Hermione forcing him into coming out, "Way to force me out the closet, by the way. Thanks very much for that, I'm going for a walk."

"Again?" Hermione stood up as to follow him.

"Yes, again," Harry turned to look at her, "And alone."

Harry walked towards the portrait as Draco, Pansy and Blaise were stepping through it and pushed past them in a hurry.

"Gee, what's gotten his wand in a twist?" Blaise asked, looking at Hermione who was still standing in the middle of the common room, looking like she was about to cry.

"None of your business, Zabini," She snapped and ran up to her dorm room, Ron after her after he packed up his things.

* * *

"Stop looking so worried, darling, it's probably some stupid argument about homework," Pansy said as she and the two boys sat down on a couch next to the fire place.

"But he looked really angry... He only ever looks so aggravated when he's arguing with me," Draco said as he laid his head down on Pansy's lap with his legs dangling off the side of the couch.

Blaise said and turned to Hannah Abbot, who was sitting on an armchair next to the fireplace, doing her homework, "Hey, Abbot, do you know what happened to Potty?"

"Oh, that," She looked up from her homework, "I think it was quite a personal conversation, but they were talking so loud it was hard not to hear."

"Just get to the point," Draco snapped.

"Okay, um, Granger asked him if he likes boys and he started shouting."

"Did he answer her?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah, he said maybe, but he was angry that Hermione practically forced it out of him."

"Thanks," Blaise said and nodded, she nodded back and get back to her homework.

"That's unexpected," Blaise said, looking down at Draco, "At least you have more chance with him now."

"I never had a chance with him, Zabini," Draco said, but he was repressing a smile. Maybe his chance did increase by a little?

* * *

_I can't believe she did that to me. Everyone probably heard us. If this isn't in the Daily Prophet by tomorrow I'd be surprised_. Harry was deep in thought as he walked down the Potions corridor. _But I can't blame Hermione for everything, I was the one to shout and agree with her. If people know, they know because of me. I should've just denied it_. He sighed and sank down a wall. _I just hope no one will ask me about it, I mean, they shouldn't. It's personal and if they were listening that's just invasion of privacy_.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice echoed around the deserted corridor, Harry looked over at her, "are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Harry mumbled as Hermione sat down next to him, "I'm sorry I shouted like that, you just tried to say that you accept me, I totally blew it out of proportion and now everyone knows."

"If everyone knows, they know better than to talk about it; No one asked me a thing when I walked through the common room. Neither did they seem to care. Everyone's accepting, honestl-"

"Harry Potter!" A shriek of delight interrupted Hermione. There were multiple footsteps and about 5 girls came into sight. Harry jumped up instantly and readied himself to escape.

The girls were screaming various things at him, like 'I love you!' and 'We're meant to be!'. Harry looked at Hermione for any idea on what to do as the girls were surrounding him. He was about to push past them, when one, Harry recognized her as Natalie McDonald, jumped at him and pressed her lips against his. He was startled and froze, but before he could do anything about it, she was yanked off by another girl who started screaming 'He's mine!".

"Harry, let's go," Hermione said as she grabbed Harry by the wrist and ran away as the other girls were still fighting over whom Harry belonged to.

They ran through a few corridors before they could no longer hear the argument between the 5 girls, hoping that they won't kill each other over Harry. The further he ran the more angered he got. _People are fighting over me! Why is it me? Why does the bloody_ Prophet _have to keep making articles about me? Why do I have to be famous?_

"I'm so sick of this!" Harry snapped as they came to a halt in another corridor, "If someone doesn't want to kill me, I am constantly harassed. Why can't I have one bloody normal year at this God forsaken school?" He turned around and punched the wall, but that didn't reveal him of his anger, only cause a pain in his knuckles.

"Harry, it's not their fault-"

"Not their fault? If they only weren't so fucking stupid they'd know how to tell apart bloody pumpkin juice from a potion! Why can't someone else be the centre of all this for once?" He punched the wall again, the pain growing bigger.

"Harry, stop that! You were about to drink it as well, so don't say they are stupid. Also, you're not the only one who get people following them. Professor Sprout was hitting on Madam Hooch the other day. Headmistress has people breaking into her office to Floo themselves to the Ministry to confess their love for Minister Shacklebolt after seeing his face in the _Prophet_. The Hospital Wing is overflowing with the ones under Amortentia. No offence, Harry, but you really aren't the centre of the planet!" Hermione shouted, she knew her friend had it hard, but did he really think the whole world revolved around him?

"You don't know what it's like Hermione! You don't have people wanting interviews every other day, or having articles written about you without your consent, OR PEOPLE CONFESSING THEIR LOVE TO YOU EVERY MINUTE! I AM SICK OF THIS!" Harry punched the wall one last time and took off running down the corridor, anything to get away from Hermione.

* * *

After he knew for sure that he was too far for anyone to catch up, he stopped running and walked down the corridor with his head down. He was furious; Hermione just didn't know what it's like to be famous without wanting to be. She didn't know what it's like to have people confessing their love to you 50 times in one day.

As he was walking down the corridor, he heard whispering, but was too angry to even bother looking at who it was, when suddenly he was pushed against a wall by someone bashing into him.

"Oh! Ha- Potter.. I'm, erm, so-"

"Oh, great! Just who I needed to see!" Harry exploded as he saw the person who bashed into him, "Hey, Malfoy, came here to confess you undying love? Let me guess, you loved me since you first laid eyes on me, right?"

"Wha- How did you know-"

"Oh just shut up! You're obviously not fucking right in the head, how about you're little cronies get you to Pomfrey and you can talk to me when you're not completely bat-shit fucking crazy! I have enough problems on my hands, I don't need you to deal with as well."

"Potter I-"

"What? You wanna kiss me too? Go get fucking checked before I fucking hex you into next week, Malfoy."

With that, Harry stormed away from a puzzled looking Malfoy and very shocked Parkinson and Zabini. He rounded a corner and punched the wall again.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the fuck was that?" Blaise asked, "He just shouts his head off and runs away? What the fuck?"

Draco was still facing the wall, away from his friends. He was done for. Everyone will hear about this and his reputation would be over. He was once again humiliated by none over than the Boy Who Lived. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but quickly shook them away.

"Did you have to push me at him?" Draco turned around to his friends, he was red and his eyes were stinging with tears that he wouldn't let out, "What are we? 10?"

"I didn't think that would happen, Draco, I'm sorry," Pansy said as he clenched his jaw for it to stop trembling.

"It's fine. I'm a Malfoy. Malfoy's don't get rejected, but if they do, they do it with dignity."

"Mate, no offence, but how do you get rejected with dignity?" Blaise chuckled before he saw Draco's face. If looks could kill.

"Who am I kidding?" Draco mumbled as he looked at Pansy's unconvinced face.

"It's okay to hurt, but I do think what he said, he only did because he was positively pissed," Pansy said.

"You're just trying to make me feel better," Draco said, he was starting to pity himself.

"No, she's right, he was pissed," Blaise agreed.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it and I'm starving. And desperate for a distraction, can we go to lunch?" Draco asked, but didn't wait for an answer before walking away from his friends, still fighting back tears.

* * *

Harry angrily placed some potatoes on his plate as conversation buzzed around him. Hermione was on his left, deep in conversation with Ron about something Harry couldn't care less about. He was still angry with his friend, but that didn't mean she still wasn't one. She made some attempt at conversation with him, about how McGonagall fixed the pumpkin juice, but (unfortunately for her) it didn't cheer him up. He was replaying the events of the past hour in his head when Ron's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"What's up with ferret-face?" He nodded towards the large doors where three Slytherins were walking into. Malfoy was in the middle and held his chin up high with pride even though his eyes were puffy and red, "Was he crying?"

"Looks like it, but I never saw him cry," Hermione said, shamelessly staring at him with a quizzical look.

"Speaking of him, I forgot to tell you guys something that happened," Harry said, turning to his friends. They looked at him with confusion because he was suddenly speaking to them again, but the sight of Malfoy made the anger disappear, "After I walked away from you, he practically fell on me. I think he was under Amortentia. But honestly, Malfoy of all people? That's just weird, isn't it?"

"That wouldn't be possible," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Why not?"

"Malfoy doesn't drink pumpkin juice. I heard him tell Crabbe and Goyle in fourth year. I never saw him drink it," Hermione explained.

Harry's eyes automatically drifted to Malfoy. Their eyes locked for a split second before he turned to Pansy, whispered something and stood up. He walked out of the Great Hall, chin still up high but Harry could tell he was suppressing tears, as Parkinson grabbed some food and ran out after him, Zabini followed suit.

"That's mental, 'Mione," Ron said, and turned to Harry, "What made you think he was under 'tentia?"

"Well, I started shouting at him, because I was angry at the other people under the potion, about how he probably loved since first year," Harry said, "And he agreed, I think. He asked me how I knew. But if he wasn't under it..."

"That's awkward," Ron said, sipping carefully on his, now undrugged, pumpkin juice.

"Awkward? Harry, you have to apologise!" Hermione said, she was looking at the doors as if Malfoy was still standing there.

"Apologise?" Ron made a disgusted face, "'Mione, are you okay?"

"Of course I am, Ronald! Harry just unknowingly broke his heart! He might have been a right pain in the backside in the past but no one deserves that," Hermione said, turning to Harry, "You're going to apologise, right?"

"Yeah, of course..." Harry said, sighing, "Just not now, I had a crap day, I just want to relax a bit," With that, Harry stepped away from the table and walked back to his dorm to get prepared for lessons the following day. How am I supposed to apologise? They've been enemies for 7 years, apologies just didn't seem right between them, but Harry knew he had to do it.

* * *

"Settle down, Eighth years," Slughorn's unsure voice shouted over the voices around the class, "Today, upon our Headmistress orders, I will be arranging a new seating plan. Everyone will be paired with someone from a different house."

A collective groan was heard from all around the room, but Slughorn picked up a rolled up piece of parchment and unrolled it with his sausage-like fingers before clearing his throat and reading from it.

"Hannah Abbot and Anthony Goldstein, Ernie Macmillan and Terry Boot, Millicent Bulstrode and Parvati Patil, Ron Weasley and Padma Patil, Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson, Harry Potter and Justin Finch-Fletchley..." Harry stopped listening after his name was called out, he grabbed his things and sat next to Justin, watching as Ron sat next to Padma and Hermione next to Parkinson.

"Now then," Slughorn said, returning the parchment onto his desk after everyone was settled, "Page 253, lets get started."

Pages were turned and ingredients collected. Harry's Babbling Beverage didn't turn out that bad, mostly because Justin isn't to bad at potions either. The lesson went on normally. After Slughorn set a paired assignment ("to be done in the already set pairs!"), everyone stalked out the class and made their way through the corridor.

"Granger!" Parkinson's voice echoed through the corridor as she jogged towards the Golden Trio, "Do you want to meet this afternoon to complete the assignment?"

"Sure, meet me at 7 in the library," Hermione replied with a friendly smile.

"Perfect, see you at seven," Parkinson smiled back and walked over to her friends.

Everyone made their way to their second lesson of the day.

* * *

"You have to add the Salamander's blood before the fairy wings and stir clockwise," Pansy read aloud and wrote down the information on her piece of parchment.

"If done incorrectly, it will be green instead of purple," Hermione added. Pansy wrote it down.

"Working with you isn't that bad," Pansy admitted, smirking a bit to her parchment as she finished writing her sentence.

"You too, Parkinson," Hermione said as she carried on reading from the potions book.

They sat in silence as both of them were trying to gather more information on the potion of their choice (Dreamless Sleep). After 5 minutes of the silence, Hermione decided she needed a short break as the letters started mashing together and her eyes couldn't keep in focus. She looked at her watch, it showed 9:15. She was about to announce her tiredness, but Pansy interrupted her.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked, putting down her quill. Hermione nodded, "What was wrong with Potter yesterday? He was pissed and poor Draco the backlash."

"Oh, he was annoyed at the pumpkin juice thing, he had a long day-"

"Pumpkin juice thing? What pumpkin juice thing?"

"You don't know? The juice was spiked with Amortentia yesterday, McGonagall made an announcement about it. But anyway, Harry had his picture in the Prophet that day, so his face was the first that most people saw after they drank it."

"Oh," Pansy was confused, how didn't she know about it? _We walked out of the Great Hall when McGonagall was standing up,_ Pansy thought, then realisation hit her, "Wait, so that's why-"

"Harry said all those things to Draco." Hermione added, Pansy gave her a confused look, "Harry told us."

Pansy thought for a while, then an idea came to her head, "Listen, this might be a lot to ask, but could you find out with Potty- um Potter- fancies Draco? Even find out if he doesn't hate him. Just, what he thinks of him. You probably figured out that Draco likes your Saviour, but he just won't stop putting himself down because," Pansy cleared her throat and put on a deep voice, " _Potter hates me! I have no chance with him!_ "

Hermione laughed at Pansy's impression of Draco, but nodded her head, "I'm going to tell you something, but no one can find out, not even Malfoy, okay?" Pansy nodded her head, "Harry smelled hair gel in his Amortentia. I know that maybe quite a few people wear hair gel, but Malfoy is the first person who come to mind."

Pansy bounced up and down on her chair and clapped her hands enthusiastically, "That's so good! I promise, I won't tell Draco, but I think we should do something, you know? To help them get together. Push them in the right direction."

"I don't know," Hermione chewed on her bottom lip, "First I have to be sure that Harry 100% would want to be with Malfoy before I push him into something like this."

"Okay, can you find out for tomorrow, and we meet here again?" Pansy asked, the uncertain look on Hermione's face made her smile fade, "Look, I want Draco to be happy. After you find out what Potter thinks of him, we can take action. Either help them get together or I tell Draco to let it go. It will do good on your Golden Boy too."

Hermione thought long and hard, before nodding, "Same time and place, I will have the info."

The girls smiled at each other before packing their things and returning to their common room together, deep in conversation about their plan.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione sat at the Eighth year table across from Harry, chewing on her lip nervously. She had to ask Harry about it, but she didn't know how to do it without him getting mad again. _Do you fancy Malfoy?_ Seemed a little out of line, he would simply say no and ask if she was alright. _I have some suspicions that you like Malfoy._ That was a statement, not a question, and would probably end with him denying it. _Do you like someone?_ Seemed alright, like it was just some best friend talk, but he would probably say no or say it's someone else.

Of course, Hermione wasn't sure if he really did fancy Malfoy, but she has suspicion, and when has she ever been wrong before?

"Harry," She suddenly blurted out before she could stop herself, "I want to speak to you, um, alone."

"Sure, but can I finish my lunch first? I'm starving," Harry said as he took a big bite out of a chicken leg.

"Okay, but can you hurry please? I still have that arrangement to meet with Parkinson and I really have to talk to you today," Hermione said, trying to make it sound urgent so he would hurry, but failed by the nervous tone in her voice.

Five minutes later, he was done with his lunch and stood from the table. Hermione told Ron that she and Harry need to talk, and gave Pansy (who was showing two thumbs up) a shy smile.

She lead Harry out of the Great Hall and walked over to the courtyard where no one would heard their conversation. For good measures, when they settled down on a small patch of grass, she cast a _Muffilato_.

"Before I start, promise me that you won't get mad by whatever I say. I just want to help you... figure some things out, okay?" Hermione said and looked at Harry who was nodding, "Harry, promise me."

"Okay, okay, I promise."

"Thank you. I know that this might be pushing you out of your comfort zone and maybe you haven't even thought about this yet, seeing as you just came out to us, and maybe even yourself, yesterday, but have you thought about who you might like? From the boys, I mean," Hermione tried to make the question sound like she didn't have anyone in mind, but wasn't sure if she managed to.

"What boy I like? Well, um," He thought about the question, he realised he didn't feel awkward talking about boys with Hermione, probably because she knew about him, "I'm not sure I like anyone at the moment, but there are some... good looking boys here."

"Oh!" Hermione suddenly forgot about the whole Pansy situation and started getting excited by the idea of actually talking to someone about boys, seeing as her two best friends were (well, not anymore) two straight males, she didn't get to do it much, "Tell me! I think Justin Finch-Fletchley isn't that bad."

"Yeah, he is good looking," Harry thought for a while, "What about Terry Boot? He has really nice hair."

"Yeah, he does!" Hermione laughed, then saw Malfoy, Parkinson and Zabini walk out into the courtyard. She saw Parkinson giving her a little smile, and she got back into the task at hand, "What about Malfoy?"

"M-Malfoy?" Harry stuttered, he looked over at Malfoy, Harry let himself check Malfoy out, seeing as he wasn't facing him. _He does have a good body, and he is quite good looking. His hair is really nice, even gelled back like that, imagine running your hand through it... it's probably really soft. And the shade of blonde is so nice... His arse isn't so bad eith-_

"Harry, you're staring," Hermione poked Harry in the ribs to get his attention back to her, "Answer my question, what about Malfoy?"

"He is... not bad," Harry lied as he carried on looking at Malfoy. More precisely, his backside.

"Is that why you're staring at his arse?" Hermione asked, she had an eyebrow raised and was suppressing a smirk.

"Yeah, his arse isn't bad either," Harry smiled at Hermione, which made her laugh.

"What's on his hair?" Hermione asked, with her I-already-know-the-answer voice.

"Hair gel, obviously, why?"

"What did you smell in the Amortentia?" Hermione asked, now letting her smirk show.

"Hair gel..." Harry murmured as he realised what Hermione was on about, "But that doesn't make any sense, 'Mione, we hated each other for years! I mean... c'mon.."

"Harry, it's fine, really, just tell me exactly what you think of him. Tell me what you thought of him when you were staring at him just now," Hermione said before she got a little red, "Okay, maybe not exactly, but-"

"God, Hermione! I wouldn't think of that!" Harry blushed as images flashed through his mind, then quickly shook his head to get rid of them, "I thought that..." _Oh fuck it, she already caught me staring at his arse..._ "I thought that he has a nice body, and, um, he's quite good looking. And that his hair is, um, nice," Harry sighed. Why was he thinking about Malfoy like that? _I mean, he is extremely good looking. Any queer guy would stare at him._

"Do you think, that maybe, you might have a crush on Malfoy? Even a little?" Hermione asked, hoping that Harry wouldn't get angry at the suggestion.

"'Mione, he's a good looking guy, any queer guy would be weird to not think he's hot," Harry said, the last word slipped out before he could stop himself.

"You think he's hot?" Hermione's face broke into a smile when Harry started looking nervous, "Harry, this is a good thing! You're getting comfortable with your sexuality, it's good to have a crush on the same sex when you're finding yourself."

"Thanks, Hermione, but I don't think it's really a crush. It's just me thinking he's hot. I think you're beautiful, but I don't have a crush on you," Harry said, Hermione smiled and blushed at the compliment, but shook her head gently.

"That's because we're best friends. But you and Malfoy, you could start something new. You could go and apologise to him for what happened the other day, ask to be friends and find out if he's something, or just hide in the shadows and observe him with a face of regret. Listen, I know you just came out yesterday, but I want you to be happy," Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it.

"Why are you so certain that something could happen? I mean, we have a big history, and not necessarily a good one. Why are you so sure?" Harry asked. He looked like he was giving it a lot of thought, which made Hermione smile.

"You're similar. In many ways, really. I just see that it could be something, and when have I ever been wrong?" Hermione teased, making Harry's features relax from the uncertain look, "So, do you want to go there and apologise?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Harry bit his lip. He knew he didn't have a crush on Malfoy, but he was positively good looking.

Hermione smiled and stopped the _Muffliato_ spell before taking the lead to going to the Trio by the lake. He was calm, he was just going to apologise for a shitty thing he did. It was natural. He sped up to be by Hermione's side as they approached the three Slytherins who stopped their conversation and looked their way.

Hermione looked expectedly at Harry until he took the hint and looked at Malfoy.

"Erm, Malfoy, could I have a word?" Harry said, Malfoy stayed seated, looking at him as if for him to continue, "Um, in private."

Malfoy quickly nodded and followed Harry a few feet away from the other Slytherins

* * *

"I wanted to, um," Potter said, getting interested with the sleeve of his robes that he was playing with, "apologise for, um, what I did yesterday. I thought you-"

"I know, Pansy informed me of that," Draco cut in, staring at Potter's anxious face, "It's okay, it was immature of my friends to push me at you and your reaction, even though a bit surprising, was appropriate."

"No, it wasn't. Listen, I wanted to start over, after the war was over, a little part of me hoped that all the hatred between houses was gone," Potter found himself opening up, "I just over reacted and completely blew any chance of things being normal, but I came here to apologise and," Potter started pulling at his sleeves more vigorously, as if trying to ruin them. Draco noticed that he didn't look him in the eye even once, "Maybe start over? I mean, I know it's a bit late but," He stopped playing with his sleeve and threw his hand out towards Draco, "But maybe we could still try being friends?"

Draco looked at the hand with wide eyes, then to Potter, who was finally looked at him, chewing his lip. Draco noticed how the longer he took to take the hand, the more uncertain Potter looked.

* * *

_Well done, Harry, just blew it all._ Harry thought as he looked at Malfoy, he was looking him right in the eyes and noticed that they weren't the dull grey he always thought they were, they were silver, shining with happiness, but his face didn't seem to have changed. _What am I thinking? Try being friends?  
_

"You know what, um, I'm sor-"

"I'd love to be your friend," Malfoy said and grabbed Harry's hand before he could pull it back.

"Thank Merlin, that would be so awkward," Harry laughed nervously as Malfoy let go of his hand and smiled a little.

"Well, Potter, it's not everyday you get offered a friendship with the Saviour of the Wizarding World. Who would I be to reject it?" Draco smirked before turning to walk back to his friends.

"It's Harry."

"Pardon?" Malfoy turned around to face his new friend.

"Call me Harry, we're friends now, and I don't call friends by their second names, Draco."

"Well, I see you took it upon yourself to give yourself the permission for my first name, Harry," Malfoy -well, Draco- smirked playfully as Harry shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Can we sit down here? I wanted to talk to you about something," Harry said, resuming to playing with his sleeve.

"Okay, talk about what?" Draco said as he sat down on the grass, Harry followed.

"The war."

* * *

"Look at them, they're actually talking," Pansy sighed as she looked over at Draco and Harry.

"They don't look like they're talking about anything good, though," Blaise said, looking at Draco's emotionless face.

"They're probably setting some things straight. Talking out all the bad stuff that happened so there are no hard feelings," Hermione suggested as she watched Harry talk to his sleeve.

"That's good, right? They're trying to stop future arguments about the war. That's good," Pansy said, looking down at the grass and pulling some of it out, "I guess that's a smart idea."

"Parkinson, know that I'm not one to have something against anyone. Once the war was over, I decided to not hold grudges. So has Harry," Hermione said as she looked at Pansy's worried face.

"I'm just sorry, okay? If Draco can talk about it, I want to, too," Pansy said, "I want to say sorry to Potter for what I said at the beginning of the war. I just wanted to protect my family. I want to say sorry to you for all the times I was rude. Granger, you really aren't a bad person and your blood statues doesn't determine who you are. I'm sorry I could realise that sooner."

"It's fine, honestly. You can apologise to Harry and I'm sure he will accept it. I'm glad you realised your mistakes, though, better late than never," Hermione chuckled a bit and Pansy's face lit up. Through her robes, Hermione was running her finger through the patch of skin where the words ' _mudblood_ ' were engraved. She sighed, "Your apology really means a lot to me."

Pansy smiled.

* * *

 

The war talk was hard. Admitting the wrong things both party's have done wasn't as easy as Harry thought, but it at least gave them a idea of how similar their life was.

They were both forced into the war and they both just wanted normal lifes. 

When the war talk ended, neither wanted to go back to their friends with bad moods, so instead they decided to talk about nicer things; Hary decided to tell Draco some stories from his previous years. 

Instead of thinking Harry was boasting about his adventures, Draco was genuinely interested in the things he has done. 

"So Lockhart actually thought he stood a chance against the famous Harry Potter," Draco said after Harry told him about Lockhart's attempt at Obliviating him and Ron.

"Don't call me that!" Harry tried sounding hurt, but his smile gave it all away.

"I mean, you were only 12 but still, how could he ever think he could take you on? You're obviously the strongest wizard, even at 12!" Draco said sarcastically, causing Harry to smack his arm playfully.

* * *

 

"She really did this to you?" Draco said as he ran his thumb over the words 'I must not tell lies' on Harry's hand again. He felt mad for following the old hag Umbridge after knowing what she did.

"Yeah, but it's fine, it only hurt a little. But I didn't give her the satisfaction. I stayed still, didn't even flinch. At least I tried. But I guess that's why she made me do it so many times," Harry laughed at the memory, he thought that there was no one more evil than Umbridge at that time, but worse was yet to come.

"You just had to be a stubborn arsehole," Draco muttered under his breath as he ran his thumb over the scar again.

"Hey!" Harry playfully smacked Draco's arm again, to which he smirked.

* * *

"You actually told Goyle he was pretty?" Draco laughed as Harry told the story.

"Yeah, to scare him away! Plus he was a little first year so it doesn't count!" Harry said defensively.

"Yes it does! You knew it was Goyle! You could have said something else!" Draco tried to contain his laughter.

"Stop laughing, you prat! It's the first thing that came to my head!" Harry smacked Draco's arm again.

* * *

"You went back in time to save the bloody beast?" Draco stared at Harry in confusion and hidden betrayal.

"He was innocent!" Harry protested, he almost said 'he saved Sirius', but stopped himself. They had the sad talk already, and decided to move on to the stories, which worked a lot better.

"It nearly killed me!"

"Don't be so dramatic, besides, you offended Buckbeak!"

"He _is_ ugly!"

"But you don't just go around saying it!"

"But you agree!"

"That's _so_ not the point!" Harry laughed as Draco's face lit up comically when Harry agreed with him.

* * *

 

"That's procrastination to the next level, Harry. You actually left the clue that would help you survive until the last night? How did you ever beat the Dark Lord?" Draco looked at Harry in disbelieve.

"It was a hard thing to figure out! If you had to do it, would your first thought be, ' _hey, lets take a bloody bath with the golden egg, that will solve all my problems'_!" Harry asked and looked as Draco's face broke into a smile and he shook his head slowly.

"You're unbelievable, Potter. I'd do anything to work out the bloody clue!" Draco chuckled as Harry pouted.

"I just had.. things to do!"

"So trying to find a way to _not die_ isn't high on your priority list?" Draco smiled at Harry, who was still pouting.

* * *

"He's smiling more than he does with us," Pansy said, looking at Draco throw his head back and laugh as Harry tried giving some irrational explanation for the story he was telling.

"I don't know if I should be offended," Blaise added, but he was smiling at the pair.

"It's good. Harry makes him happy," Pansy said, watching as the pair nodded and stood up. They made their way back to the three sitting by the lake.

"Hey, 'Mione, should we go get Ron? We kind of forgot about him, didn't we?" Harry asked Hermione when he sat down next to her.

"Oh, I totally forgot! We have to go now, anyway, it's nearly lesson time anyway. See you in class!" Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him away, but he managed to shout a 'bye!' at the group.

"You seemed really happy," Pansy commented with a small smile on her lips.

"It's nothing. Just friendship, that's what Harry offered and that's what I took. I'm not going to push my boundaries in case I fuck this thing up," Draco said. He was still being cautions. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and make Harry hate him again.

"Don't worry, you won't," Pansy said before standing up and leading the two boys to lesson.

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Hermione doesn't get the 'mudblood' scar in the books, but for some reason I like the idea of the scar.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a bit carried away with this chapter... I just love cute playful Drarry okay sue me.  
> Also I love the idea of the Golden Trio and Silver Trio (That's what I call Pansy, Blaise and Draco) just hanging out together.

"Did you talk to Potter?" Pansy asked as Hermione sat down in their meeting place.

"Yes, and I have some information," Hermione said, not hiding her smile, "Before he and Malfoy spoke, he admitted to finding him hot, his words, but he said it wasn't a crush; he just found a guy attractive."

"Oh, well that's good enough, I guess-"

"However!" Hermione interrupted Pansy with a smile, "I spoke to him after he spoke to Draco."

_"So, what did you and Draco speak about?" Hermione asked. They were both walking to the Eighth year common room after the last lesson._

_"The war, and after we finished that talk we sort of wanted to lighten up, so I started telling him the sort of adventure we went on," Harry said, grinning at the memory of Draco's laugh, "I told him a lot, I don't really know why, I just found myself opening up. He seemed like he really was interested in my stories."_

_"So what's your final word? You know that he likes you by now, he admitted to it, but I don't think he would make the first step," Hermione stopped Harry from saying the password to the portrait._

_"That completely slipped out of my mind, he does like me, doesn't he?" Harry asked, sounding slightly worried, but a smile was slowly appearing on his face._

_"So what's your last word?" Hermione asked, "Listen, you obviously already felt a bit of an attraction if you smelled hair gel in your Amortentia, or maybe it was just fate doing it's job. Or you were subconsciously attracted to him and I just had to bring it into your attention."_

_"He really is great, though. He's good looking, he's really easy to talk to, and- Hermione- his laugh is so.... contagious! He really does look cute when he's not sneering," Harry leaned his back on a wall and watched as the portrait tried to pretend like it's not listening to the conversation, "I have a feeling I might have triggered a crush from that talk."_

_"That's great! You just have to act upon it, because you know he wants it, but he's to set on the idea you don't really like him to do anything," Hermione said, "But for now, let's get inside and start on your homework, I can't have you missing out on learning because of some crush."_

_"Okay, mum," Harry said sarcastically and stepped inside the common room after saying the password._

"That's amazing!" Pansy exclaimed when Hermione told her about the conversation, "Did you speak to McGonagall?"

"She said yes," Hermione answered.

"Well, now, all we need is invitations, and a lot of FireWhiskey," Pansy said.

"I don't think McGonagall would be too proud of two perfects handing out alcohol! She agreed to the party, let's not push the boundaries," Hermione said. She and Pansy have been planning the party since their last meeting yesterday, Hermione did everything she could to persuade the Headmistress to allow them out of bed after curfew and access to the Room of Requirement. She didn't want to loose McGonagall's trust.

"Gra- Hermione, listen, maybe you haven't been to many party's, no offence, but it isn't a party without alcohol," Pansy explained, "Plus, we're 18! We are of age and are responsible young adults, either way, McGonagall probably knew you're going to have alcohol when you mentioned my name."

"Well, she did have a concerned look. She was about to say no, but I convinced her with the 'inter-house unity' talk,"Hermione sighed, _I'm so going to regret this,_ "Okay, I'll allow the firewhiskey. But bring butterbeer too, for people who don't want to drink."

"Okay, now let's talk about the plan..."

And the plotting began.

* * *

The eighth years gathered together in their common room because of Hermione's request, so they were slightly confused when Pansy stood on a chair in front of everyone.

"You might be wondering what I'm doing here instead of Hermione, but she had to get something and we are working on this together, so I will explain what this is," Pansy looked around at the bored faces of her classmates, she sighed, "Hermione and I are throwing a party in the Room of Requirement on Friday night. We are allowed out after curfew so it'll start at 10 and end at 1. Any questions?"

"Why would we trust you?" The unmistakable voice of Zacharias Smith bellowed from the back on the room, everyone turned to look at him as Pansy narrowed her eyes. She could see Blaise grabbing Draco's wrist before he could reach for his wand.

"Shut it, Smith," Hermione said as she walked next to the crowd, levitating a big box around the common room. She grabbed a chair and stood on it next to Pansy, "Listen, you don't need to come, if you don't want to, Smith, but please keep your foul mouth shut if you want to say something like that to my friends."

Pansy looked at Hermione with a grin. _Friend, that sounds nice,_ she thought, "Oh, Hermione!" Pansy said dramatically and put her hands on her hips, "I do wonder what's in that box!"

"Well, Pansy, you're about to find out!" Hermione said, even more dramatically, causing a few giggles from the crowd. She waved her wand and the box opened, and out floated 12 bottles.

"Butterbeer? If I wanted that I'd just go to Hogsmeade, thanks," Zacharias said, and stood from his seat.

"Don't forget to close the door behind you, Smith, don't want any teachers finding out about the concealed firewhiskey!" Hermione shouted as Smith walked towards the portrait to get out, but turned when hearing 'firewhiskey', "Oh, so now you're interested?"

"If it was up to me, I'd only invite a special few, don't need prats like him ruining my time," Someone, who sounded like Padma Patil, said from the crowd. Some murmurs of agreement flowed through the crowd.

"The only reason we can do this is because of 'inter-house unity', if prats like him don't get invited, McGonagall would make us call off the whole thing. Of course, he can _chose_ not to come..." Pansy said, giving him the stink eye.

"Anyway, as you may see, there appear to be 12 bottles of butterbeer there," Hermione said, pointing to the bottles that were floating above the box, "But if you look closer, 5 of the bottle are marked with an x just above the 'b' in 'butterbeer' on the label, those are firewhiskey."

"How did you manage to do that?" Harry's voice said, Hermione turned to him and saw him standing next to Draco, her smile widened.

"Well, Harry, I have contacts. By that, I mean George. He bought them for me, concealed and labelled them, then Apparated with them just outside the non-Apparition zone where I cast an Disillusionment Charm on it and bought it here," Hermione explained like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"You're bloody brilliant, Hermione," Ron's voice complimented her.

"It's all George, but the whole plan was Pansy's idea, do I have to give credit to her," Hermione said, "Anyway, The party is tomorrow at 10, but I suspect that Pansy already told you."

"The Room will be visible by the time all of you get there, after the last one, the door will vanish. And don't tell the lower years, their innocent hearts might not handle the grown up stuff well," Pansy said with a smirk.

"Can I come?" A sleepy voice said from the crowd, no one had to turn to know who it was.

"Who invited her inside?" Pansy asked Hermione, who was smiling innocently.

"I might have invited Luna and Ginny, but that's all from the youngers," Hermione said, "It's only one year, they'll handle the 'grown up stuff', trust me."

"Whatever, lets get the box up to your room," Pansy said, then turned to the crowd, "That's it! Thanks for listening."

Hermione waved her wand and the box refilled and lifted from the ground. With Pansy's help, they got it up the stairs and into Hermione's room.

* * *

 

"You going to the party, then?" Harry asked Draco after the crowd went back to their places.

"I am, are you sure you can handle the way Slytherins party? I doubt Pansy will let Hermione take the lead on this one," Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Of course I'll handle it! I can party with the Slytherins any day!" Harry said with his chin high.

"Sure, Potty," Draco rolled his eyes and went to sit down next to the fire place.

"You don't believe me?" Harry followed him and sat next to him on the couch.

"Slytherins don't do something half heartedly, we go full out. I remember when I got drunk on one of the party's in 5th year, Blaise still has pictures of me dancing on one of the coffee tables, shirtless," Draco said as he laughed at the memory.

"Gonna have to ask him to show me one day," Harry said, smiling at Draco.

"You are _so_ not seeing them."

"I so am!" Harry stood up and ran over to Blaise, who, surprisingly, was talking to Ron on the other side of the common room.

Before Draco realised what was happening, Blaise already _Accio_ ed and showed Harry the picture before he could stop him.

"Oh my god!" Harry burst out laughing as picture-Draco stood on a coffee table and started waving his shirt around above his head, _I'd pay anything to see that first hand_ , Harry thought before he could stop himself.

"Give me that!" Draco shouted after Harry, who ran away with the picture before Draco could reach him.

"Never!" Harry laughed as he watched picture-Draco roll his hips and seductively wink at the camera, his breath hitched a little and before he knew it, he was tackled to the floor by the blond.

"Give it to me!" Draco said, straddling Harry's stomach.

"No!" Harry laughed as he waved his hand around so Draco doesn't grab it.

"You've done it now, Potter!" He shouted, before Harry knew what he meant, Draco grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and hit Harry in the face.

"You didn't!"

"Yes I did!" Draco shouted back and hit Harry with the couch's pillow again.

"No you don't!" Harry shouted, as Draco stretched out for another hit. Harry grabbed onto Draco's legs and spun them around so he was on top and snatched the pillow from a startled Draco.

"No, you'll- mmph!" Draco tried shouting, but he was interrupted by the pillow hitting his face, "you'll ruin my hair!"

Harry was about to go for another hit, when a wolf whistle made him aware of his surrounding again. He looked around and saw that the whole common room was staring at them. He stood quickly and helped Draco up to. Harry ran his eyes over Draco. His hair was messed up and just _asking for a hand to be ran through it!_ His robes were messed up and his tie crooked.

Harry didn't look any better. His glasses were crooked and his hair even messier than before. He was red faced and breathing heavily. _If people didn't know what happened here,_ Draco thought, _They probably would have thought we were making out..._

"Hey," Harry said softly, getting Draco back to his senses.

Harry lifted his hand and revealed the picture still in his hand. Before Draco could reach out, Harry backed away and ran all the way to his dorm, where he locked the door and leaned up against it.

He looked at the picture again and caught picture-draco winking again. He sighed, _Holy crap, I totally fancy him._

* * *

"That was something," Pansy smirked as Draco approached her and Hermione. Ron and Blaise also made their way over to them.

"Very much," Draco muttered, "Something."

"Why don't you just ask him out?" Blaise asked, making Ron looked at the four weirdly.

"Ask him out? What the bloody hell is this about?" Ron looked between the four, expecting them to fill him in.

"I'll tell you later, Ron," Hermione said after getting a nudge from Pansy and a look that said ' _not here_ '

Ron was about to protest but the sound of footsteps coming their way stopped the conversation.

"Hey," Harry said, squeezing into the circle between Draco and Hermione.

"Where's the picture?" Draco asked, ready for another round of trying to take it from him.

"Somewhere where you won't find it," Harry smiled at him innocently

"I'll get that picture back, one way or another," Draco muttered as Pansy and Hermione shared a look and smile.

"Harry, Ron, we have to go to the library, you promised me a study session yesterday, remember?" Hermione said, Ron groaned as he remembered what he said to get Hermione off his case and Harry just nodded.

"See you tomorrow," Harry said to the three Slytherins and followed his friends out the common room.

* * *

"Will someone fill me in now?" Ron asked as they settled themselves at their usual library table, "Why did Zabini- OW!"

Ron couldn't finish his sentence as Hermione stomped on his foot under the table and shook her head slightly.

"Okay, so why are we suddenly friendly with Slytherins? I mean, Zabini isn't that bad, he's good at Quidditch talk, but what have I missed?"

"Well, as you probably saw from that... action in the common room," Hermione smiled at Harry, "We have gotten quite close to them."

"Yeah, and, um, I wanted to tell you something, 'Mione," Harry said, playing with a page from the Potions book he took, "I, um, I think I... you know."

"Really?" Hermione's smile stretched as she realised what he was talking about. _He likes Draco! That's just the confirmation I need to get on with the plan..._

"Thanks for including me guys, really," Ron said sarcastically, and smiled at them.

"I can't tell you if Harry doesn't want me to," Hermione said, looking expectedly at Harry.

"I, um," Harry started, "Well, you know I'm, um, bi. You were there when I said it.. and I, um, like someone."

"Someone?" Ron raised an eyebrow. You could practically see the light bulb light up when his mouth flew open, "It's Malfoy, isn't it?"

"That obvious?" Harry laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

"I mean, you were literally rolling around on the floor with him a few minutes ago, I was wondering what you were thinking."

"But you're.. you're alright with it?" Harry asked as he watched Ron shrug.

"Look, Charlie is gay," Ron said, "He often bought boys home who were bloody gits, even bigger than Malfoy, but I had to live through it because there was nothing I could do. They made him happy and that's all that counted. I was fine with them because Charlie was happy. You seem happy to me when you're next to him, so I'm fine."

"Well, we're not together yet..."

"Yet?" Hermione squealed, "So that means you will be eventually? Are you planning something?"

"No.. I'm not, but I.. I don't know, okay? All I know is that I fancy him," Harry said, pulling out a picture from his jean's pocket and showed it to his friends.

"Nice moves," Hermione said and nodding approvingly at picture-Draco dancing on the coffee table.

"I know, right?" Harry laughed and looked at the picture again.

* * *

Friday rolled around, and everyone woke up excited in the Eighth year tower, either for the weekend or the party taking place that afternoon.

Before walking to breakfast, Pansy made everyone who was going to the party write their names down and sigh a ' _Hermione and I are not responsible for any injuries and/or humiliation that may happen during this party_ ' parchment. When everyone was gone, Pansy gathered 20 names, satisfied that not everyone is going, she folded the parchment and headed to the Great Hall.

When she reached the Eighth year table, she noticed that her friends were sitting next to the Golden Trio, or rather the Golden Trio next to them. She approached the table and her friends shuffled to make space for her next to Hermione. Harry, Draco and Blaise were sitting on the opposite side of the table, the five were in a conversation about the party.

"I got the names of the attenders, if you want to have a read," Pansy handed the parchment to Hermione and she unfolded it.

Hermione read out the names on the list before nodding, "Doesn't sound bad."

The six ate their breakfast before getting up and walking to lesson together with many eyes observing in confusion. _Since when did they get along?_ Was in everyone's mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Party in the next chapter and I'm so excited to write it, I love party game drarry fics,,


	6. Chapter 6

All day the 20 coming to the party were buzzing with excitement. Whether they were excited for finally attending a party constructed by a Slytherin (because of the stories about the infamous Slytherin parties) or to get drunk for the first time in a while, they were all restless and practically ran out the class when the last lesson finished.

Hermione departed from her friends to join Pansy in the preparation, leaving Ron and Harry to walk to the common room alone. They were talking about what sort of things could be happening at the party, and decided to ask Blaise and Draco about the other Slytherin parties.

"Hey," Harry greeted the Slytherins as he sat down heavily next to Blaise on the couch in front the fireplace, "We were wondering what sort of things Pansy and 'Mione are planning for the party, any ideas?"

"Too many," Draco said from an armchair next to the couch.

"Meaning?" Ron asked, sitting on a armchair opposite Draco's

"I've only been to 2 of the Slytherin parties, but they always change what they do," Blaise explained, "But they often do party games, like spin the wand, truth or dare, so on and so forth. Sometimes they just got drunk and everyone ended up making out with a stranger. It was unpredictable. But knowing Pansy, she's planning some party games."

"Not bad," Ron said, taking out his Potions assignment.

"You should have seen Draco in 5th year," Blaise said, "Umbridge turned a blind eye on him because he was in the Inquisitorial bullshit, but he got completely smashed. You still have the picture, right?"

"Yeah..." Harry said, wondering if it was weird to keep a picture of shirtless Draco in his robe pocket all the time.

"Where'd you hide it?" Blaise asked, giving Draco an amused look that Harry missed.

"Oh, I, um... somewhere... safe," Harry said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Don't you keep it in your pocke-" Ron started, oblivious to Harry's awkwardness.

"Ron! Um, how's your homework going?" Harry shouted, making some people turn their way. Harry tried hard not to look at Draco.

"Did he say you keep it in your pocket?" Blaise asked, you could here the amusement in his voice.

"No he didn't, that's just creepy," Harry said, forcing a laugh.

"I did-" Ron jumped in, finally catching up to what was happening and hoping to embarrass Harry a bit.

"No you didn't."

"But it's right in that pocket!" Ron said and pointed at Harry's left robe pocket.

"It is?" Draco said, laughing at Harry's red face.

"No it's not!" Harry shouted, glaring at Ron, who was suppressing a laugh.

Before Harry knew it, Blaise reached into Harry's pocket and took the picture out his pocket, making Harry blush and reach forward to snatch it back, but it was already in Draco's hands.

"I told you I'll get it back!" Draco laughed and shoved it into his own pocket.

"I only kept it there to.. to make sure you don't get your hands on it!" Harry explained, but he felt his face getting hot.

"Yeah, makes sense, Potty," Blaise said and patted Harry's shoulder.

Ron was hysterically laughing, his face nearly the same colour as his hair. He looked at Harry apologetically, but Harry still narrowed his eyes at him.

"I'm going to, um, go to my dorm.." Harry muttered, playing with the sleeve of his robes.

Draco frowned, the only other time he saw Harry do that was when he apologised for him. He watched as he walked to the dormitory stairs with his head down and pulling at his sleeve.

"He's nervous," Draco commented.

"Or embarrassed. I would be if my cr- if someone found their picture in my robe," Ron said, correcting himself before he said something he's regret later.

Blaise raised an eyebrow and looked at Draco, "Yeah, that's reasonable."

"I'll go up to him," Ron said and nodded at the two, who nodded back.

Blaise watched as Ron disappeared up the stairs and turned to Draco.

"Was he about to say 'crush'?" Blaise asked.

"Drop it, Blaise. You care about this more than I do," Draco sighed as he watched the flame in the fireplace.

"That's because I'm better at deduction. And I care about your happiness, as much as it pains me to admit. You don't seem to care about this at all."

"That's because I'm not one to get worked up and get my hopes up. I'm just going to wait until the conclusion of this. It can only go two ways, good or bad way. I've learned a long time ago to never get my hopes up."

"Well, you should probably forget that. You need some optimism in your life."

"No, I don't. I don't need optimism for good things to happen," Draco said, standing up from his armchair and rushed up the dormitory stairs.

* * *

"Is that all, then?" Pansy shouted to Hermione, who was checking who came through the door. Hermione nodded and walked away from the door.

"Okay! Everyone sit in a circle. Signing the attenders parchment you have agreed to do whatever the party consists of, so you either do that or go back to the common room," Hermione shouted as everyone was around a table, drinking butterbeer.

Everyone looked a little wary, but obeyed Hermione and sat in the circle. Hermione was standing behind Padma Patil with her wand out.

"I'm going to draw a circle around us, that makes this circle bound to the promise that no information leaves this circle. Also, as we are going to play Truth or Dare, if you won't do a dare, you will get the word 'loser' written across your forehead in zits. We will also pass around some Veritaserum, but if you don't want to answer a question, you can drink. If someone wants to leave now, be free to do so," Hermione explained. No one moved, so she hummed and started drawing the circle. A misty line started appearing above everyone's heads. Hermione was about to close the circle, but quickly jumped inside the circle before closing it, "Also, no one can get out of the circle. I am the only one who can dissolve it."

"Before we start, lets set a singular rule, to not make things awkward, no sensitive questions," Pansy said, "By that, I mean no questions about the war."

Hermione smiled and nodded before sitting down next to Ron and Harry, across from Draco, Pansy and Blaise. Hermione grabbed an empty bottle of butterbeer from Harry's hand and put it in the middle of the circle and spun it. It landed on Hannah Abbott.

"Truth or Dare?" Hermione asked as Pansy went around the circle pouring Veritaserum into peoples cups.

"Truth.." Hannah said uncertainly before downing her drink.

"Okay," Hermione looked around the circle, "If you were to shag someone from this circle, who would it be?"

"N-Neville," Hannah stuttered after trying to fight the truth serum running through her vains.

"Okay," Hermione looked at Neville, who was red and looked at Hannah, "Spin the bottle, Hannah."

Hannah nodded and spun the bottle. Everyone watched as the bottle came to a halt on Ernie MacMillan.

"Dare," Ernie said as if he was the bravest man on earth.

"Kiss Justin Finch-Fletchley," Hannah said with a smile. She, as well as everyone, was amused by the look of terror on Ernie's face.

"I can't do- that's not-" Ernie stuttered, his bravery deflating.

"You wanna have loser written across your face?" Pansy snapped, "Kiss him, MacMillan."

"I'm not even gay," Ernie mumbled under his breath as he crawled across the circle to a terrified Justin. He looked at him apologetically before attaching their lips together and quickly separating.

"Wasn't that bad, was it?" Hermione asked as Ernie was returning to his seat.

"It was disgusting."

Laughter filled the room as both Ernie and Justin wiped their mouths.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my misery, why don't you," Justin said, but laughed along.

Ernie spun the bottle, watched it go in circles before it landed on Zach Smith.

"Dare."

"Kiss Neville."

"Um, no thanks. I'd rather take the zits, I'm not gay," Smith sneered at Ernie, who was surprised at how quick the answer was.

"Is that bravery or stupidity?" Blaise asked loudly asked Pansy.

"Stupidity," She replied, "Anything against gay people, Smith?"

"hmph," He turned to look at her, "No, just not a fag myself."

"Use that word one more time and you're out of here," Hermione snapped, "And spin the damn bottle, Smith."

Smith reached for the bottle and spun, as he did, he visibly shuddered as everyone saw the acne breaking out on his face. The word _Loser_ visible and bright red.

"That'll stay there for 2 weeks," Hermione informed him as she looked at the bottle, which landed on Harry.

"Truth," He said as he drank some of his Veritaserum-filled-firewhiskey.

"We all know you're bent, so, who d'you fancy?" Smith asked, his face lighting up at the thought of new gossip.

Harry felt the answer running up his throat and threatening to spill out. Before he could open his mouth, he quickly brought his cup up to his lips and drank. Whatever spell Hermione put on made the compulsion to answer go away.

"Shame, thought I'd finally find out who the Golden Boy wants to bang," Smith said with a disappointed face.

"Who even invited him?" Daphne Greengrass asked as she took a drink of her firewhiskey.

"Spin the bottle, Potter," Blaise said, obviously not caring about the combined hatred for Smith.

Harry leaned over and spun the wand.

* * *

Things were getting heated in the game. The truths were pretty boring as mostly people decided to drink, that was until Hermione decided to lift the spell that ended the compulsion ( _"No one is even answering, Hermione, it's getting pretty tiring,"_ _Pansy complained._ ). So far what everyone found out was that The Golden Trio definitely did _not_ have a threesome (Ron spat his drink out all over Seamus at that question) , Parvati and Pansy were once a thing, Draco and Pansy were never a thing and other things Draco couldn't find in himself to care about.

Somehow the circle found it fun to make the boils on Smith's face grow more prominent and redder, as on his 5th go he was once again dared to kiss Ernie.

When Zach spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione, his grin got bigger than most people would think is possible.

Seeing his devilish grin, Hermione decided he wanted to dare her some thing she would have to refuse, thus getting payback for the zits. She chose truth instead.

His grin got even bigger, making Hermione regret her decision immediately.

"Seeing as there's no way of dodging the question now," Smith looked at Harry and smirked, "Who is Our Saviour crushing on? You're his best friend, surly you know."

"That's hardly a question concerning Hermione!" Pansy shouted as Hermione covered her mouth so the answer doesn't spill out.

"A question is a question is a question," Smith simply said.

"It's fine, 'Mione, just say it. The prat isn't going to stop until he finds out," Harry said.

"Wow, Smith, you really are fun at parties," Blaise said sarcastically, making some people laugh, some more than others because of the firewhiskey.

"It's Dr-Draco!" Hermione finally spat out, covering her face with her hands.

"It's fine, Hermione, let's just get on with the game." Harry told Hermione, avoiding Draco's eyes. Hermione nodded and spun the bottle.

* * *

Everyone was at least a bit tipsy, some more than others. Seamus was obviously one of them. After he told Luna and Ginny to make out, said ' _Hell yes!'_   when asked if he's ever given anyone a blowjob (Dean went red), and tried making out with Justin Finch-Fletchley, he was about to call it a night, before walking head first into the barrier around the circle and bounced back, falling into Ron's lap.

The bottle, spun by Millicent Bulstrode, landed on Harry. Millicent (who was close to passing out from intoxication) thought a bit too long about the dare for Harry, making the utterly smashed Irishman jump from Ron's lap (even though he was getting quite comfortable) and shouted out:

"I dare you to make out with M-Malfoy!"

Harry suddenly felt sober again as he looked over the circle at Draco, who didn't look drunk at all. Not wanting to have the case of boils on his face like Smith, he made his way through the circle until he was next to Draco. He kneeled before Draco and stared at him for a while.

"You stink of firewhiskey and bad decisions," Draco whispered, making Harry chuckle a little.

"And you don't smell like firewhiskey at all," Harry cocked his head, it was a statement, but he meant it as a question.

"You think I want another incident like 5th year? No thanks, I barely drank. Plus I know a sobering spe-"

"Just kiss already!" Seamus voice rang through the room.

Harry chuckled and shook his head. Before he could lean in, Draco already caught his lips with his own. At first it was soft and sweet, closed mouth kisses. It was a short while before Draco ran his tongue across Harry's lips and the kiss got heated. They fought over dominance, pushing at each other before Harry won, gently pushing Draco on his back before crawling over his body. He was about to go down and start kissing at his neck, but a voice ruined the moment.

"Okay, it's 12 already, and I don't think any of us can even last an hour longer," Hermione said, gently pulling on Harry's leg, "Let's get out of here."

Harry stood up, giving Draco a hand to stand up as well. He took it and let go after he stood. He had a facial expression Harry couldn't decipher, but before he could ask what's wrong, he nodded at Harry and went off to his friends. Harry went off to his.

All the Eighth years went back to their common room in a group, trying hard to be quiet so they don't get caught. Luna suggested to walk Ginny up to Gryffindor tower, so they left the others. Harry looked back to see them holding hands.

* * *

Harry laid down on his four poster bed, watching the canopy. He revisited the memory of the kiss so many times, and he couldn't quite pinpoint it, but he knew something was wrong after it.

"Ron? Are you asleep?" Harry whispered through the quiet dorm. Being put in the only eighth year common room, there were only 2 people per dorm.

"Yes," He heard Ron's voice mumble back.

"Well, obviously not any more," Harry said, "Have you noticed something weird about Draco after we kissed?"

"Um, no?"

"C'mon Ron, I know something was wrong.."

"I don't know, he looked a bit scared to me. But only for a moment... I don't see why he would be scared."

"Me neither, do you think I scared him off? What if he doesn't want to speak to me any more?"

"Harry, you're my best friend, but can you piss off? I'm drunk and I want to sleep, you are drunk and you should sleep too."

"I'm not drunk-"

Harry's protests were interrupted by Ron's loud snore. Harry sighed and turned over to his side. _Why would Draco be scared?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love linny and Deanmus okay


	7. Chapter 7

When Harry woke up, he was determined to get the answer of his question. He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Only to fall on the floor with a _thud!_

"Ow.." He winced and he touched his forehead. His head was pounding with hangover and his legs barely responded to him. He felt tired and just wanted to sleep...

"Rise and shine Harry!" An Irish voice shouted, making Harry wince again. He held onto his bed and stood up, looking around his dorm, which was too bright for his liking.

"How are you even up?" Harry asked. He saw Seamus digging through his trunk for a clean shirt like he was completely hangover-free.

"Pansy and Hermione have some hangover potion in the common room for people who went to the party," Seamus said, "Well, except Smith, so don't tell him."

"Sure, are they still down there?" Harry put on his glasses, making his eyes hurt from adjusting to the sharpened view.

Harry got dressed in a his comfiest Muggle jeans and a sweater. After the war he decided that he grew out of Dudley's clothes, however big he was, and went shopping with Hermione into Muggle London. It was no secret that he preferred Muggle clothes to Wizard ones.

He made his way downstairs to the common room to find Pansy and Hermione sitting together next to a bag, looking around the room as if searching for someone.

"Harry! There you are, here.." Hermione said and reached into the bag, pulling out a little vial of green liquid and passed it to Harry when he was sat next to Pansy.

"Thanks.." Harry groaned.

He downing the potion and suddenly felt light-headed. He gripped the couch and sighed when the feeling was gone, along with his headache.

"Whoa, that feels so much better, thanks," Harry said to Hermione, then looked at Pansy and bit his lip nervously, "Hey, Pansy, have you seen Draco anywhere?"

"Oh," Pansy said, looking at him with wide eyes, "He is... isn't here.. He isn't here at the moment. He went.. somewhere."

"He went somewhere? Do you know where?" Harry asked, oblivious to the fact that Pansy was looking worried.

"I don't know, Potter. I don't follow him around. He obviously wants to be alone if he didn't tell me where he is."

"I- okay, whatever," Harry said. He wanted to argue, but backed down because the defensive look on Pansy's face.

Harry sighed and stood from the couch. He was going to go back up to his dormitory, but decided otherwise. He walked out of the portrait hole and made his way to the courtyard. He needed the fresh air, he told himself, and if he happened to run into Draco it was just coincidence. He wasn't going to look for him, no, he isn't that type of person. He's just going to relax his mind...

He was internally arguing with himself as he sat down on the grass next to the lake.

Draco liked him, didn't he? Than why would he be so scared of he kiss? Wasn't he supposed to like it?

Just as Harry started getting comfortable, he noticed a dark cloud coming his way, and decided to leave before it started raining. He stood up and brushed off the grass from his clothes before turning around and making his way back into the castle.

He looked the castle up and down as he walked; they changed so much after the war, but it didn't look any less inviting. He looked up for the last time and did a double take as he saw the speck of white-blond pecking out of the Astronomy Tower.

Without thinking, he ran to the castle and started running to the Astronomy Tower as fast as he could; he wanted to get there before Draco ran away. He found himself at the door to the Astronomy Tower and slowly opened the door. He went up the last flight of stairs and saw Draco sitting down with his legs stretched out in front of him, his head pressed to the wall behind him. His eyes were closed and Harry's presence went unnoticed.

"Stupid," Draco mumbled as he banged his head on the wall and ran his hands over his face.

Harry stepped closer and gently knocked on a wall, making Draco's head snap towards him. At the sight of Harry, he jumped up and tried making it to the stairs, but Harry blocked his way.

"Draco, why are you avoiding me?" Harry asked, grabbed Draco's shoulders.

"I'm not."

But he was.

He didn't know what else to do. He was scared. Scared of messing everything up, scared of making Harry hate him again, scared of this ending, scared of falling in love. He was scared and he didn't know what to do about it. Except the thing he did best: break it.

He knew he had to. Either take the eternal pain of being so close to Harry but _not close enough_ , or leave him and slowly get over him. Or not get over him, that's something he can't control. But loving him from far away is better than from right next to him. Not loving, liking. Draco wasn't in love.

As he looked into Harry's eyes, he knew he would break it. Ruin the friendship they managed to form. He rather do it now than later. The way Harry was looking at him made it so hard, but made him realise how much he really needed to do this. He broke away from Harry's grip.

"Draco, come on-"

"Malfoy! Call me Malfoy, for Merlin's sake!" Draco snapped. He couldn't bare hearing his name coming from Harry, "Just- I can't do this! I can't walk around and be your friend, that's just crazy. Why did I think that was a good idea? You're the Golden Boy, The Saviour! I'm just a worthless Death Eater. Potter, I don't know who you think I am, but I am still myself. Still my stupid hateful self. You and your mudblood and blood traitor can stay away from me and my friends!"

"Draco! Don't call them that, what's gotten into you-"

"Malfoy! Stop calling my by my first name like we're friends. Nothings gotten into me, Potter. I'm still myself, and I don't know how you missed it."

With that, Malfoy pushed past a dumbfounded Harry. He rushed down the stairs before Harry could stop him.

Harry, however, didn't have any power to run after him. Did he really trust Draco to change? But this isn't like the Draco he knew, Draco always was smiling around him. Plus that incident with the Amortentia proved Draco wrong. Was that all a big plan to hurt Harry? Get close, make him fond of Draco's friendship, then leave like it's nothing? No, it wouldn't be like this. If it was some elaborate plan to humiliate Harry, Draco would be so bothered about it. Pansy and Blaise would be with him just to see Harry's face when they broke it to him. This couldn't be right.

* * *

As Harry walked through the portrait hole to his common room when he was pulled aside by his bushy-haired friend.

"Where were you?" Hermione said, giving him the 'disappointed mother' look she so often did those days, "You were gone for hours! I was worried."

"I was gone for one hour, Hermione," Harry said. He didn't want Hermione to keep telling him off. Especially after what happened, he just wanted to be alone.

"So what! I don't like not knowing where you are," Hermione didn't look worried, more angry that Harry didn't tell her where he was.

"I'm not a child!" Harry raised his voice, making some people in the common room to look at them, "Stop treating me like I'm 5! Hermione, I'm an adult, I can be where ever I want when ever I want," Harry was getting so angry at his friend, he added, "You're not my mum."

"I know, Harry- please come back!" Hermione called as Harry ran up the 'BOYS' stairs to his dormitory.

"What's gotten his wand in a twist?" Blaise asked as Hermione returned to him and her boyfriend playing Wizard Chess.

"Probably nothing, he sometimes has his outbursts of anger," Ron said he 'checkmate'ed Blaise.

"But never like this, Ron," Hermione said, and thought deeply as Blaise and Ron arranged their chess, "I think it's something about Draco. He was looking for him when he came down."

"Probably, knowing Draco he probably pissed Potter off," Blaise said as he moved his knight to E3, "On purpose, too."

"What do you mean, on purpose?" Hermione asked as Ron moved his queen to D4.

"Well, when Draco usually does this. When ever something good happens to him, he ruins it. It sort of a paranoia thing, he's scared it'll not work, so he ruins it before it goes to shit itself, even when it isn't going into any shit," Blaise explained, waving his hand around animately but not tearing his look from the chess board.

"So he ruined his friendship with Harry because he didn't want it to be ruined? Doesn't make sense to me, mate," Ron said, looking at Blaise as he scratched his chin, thinking of what move he should make.

"Doesn't have to. It makes sense to Draco, somehow, and no matter what I tell him he always says it's 'for the best'."

"Well, maybe that's what he thinks," Hermione said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Maybe he thinks that people are better off without him. Or he's better off without people. Either way, he is wrong. Harry's grown really fond of him. Whatever is going on inside Draco's head, it's wrong."

"Maybe he's doing it because he's scared," Ron said, "He sure looked terrified after he and Harry kissed at that game night."

"Maybe," Hermione agreed, "Anyway, where's Pansy?"

"Looking for Draco."

* * *

"You did what?" Pansy shrieked at Draco after he told her the full story of his and Harry's encounter.

"Don't look at me like that, Pans! I did what I had to," Draco defended himself.

"Why would you bring up Hermione's blood status? And Ron's views? We've been through this so many times, we agreed to stop caring about that. Harry was your friend, Draco. Why would you ruin it like that?"

"I knew that would be the only thing to make him hate me, act like my old pricky self. I had to do that before I got too close to him," Draco said, then looked down at his hands.

Pansy found him in the library, he was sitting in the far corner where no body went, making it the perfect place to not get spotted. But apparently not by Pansy, who knew Draco more than he knew himself.

"Dray..." Pity filled her eyes as she touched his shoulder, "You shouldn't worry about that. It was a good thing that you got close, you shouldn't have ruined it. You were the happiest I saw you in ages."

"That's the thing! These things always happen like that, you're happy and then suddenly your whole life went down hill because you said the wrong thing. I want to have control over how it happens, that's why I did it now before it happened without me knowing."

"You can't live like that! Draco, we both know you don't want it to end like this," Pansy grabbed Draco's hand and looked him in the eyes, "You have to make things right."

"But he hates me now," Draco whispered, not trusting his voice to not break if he spoke louder.

"Honey, that's what you said last time, and he was your friend. You kissed, for Merlin's sake," Pansy laughed, then straightened up and looked at him with authority, "Now, Draco Malfoy, are you going to pick your life up and fix it? Or are you going to be a wuss?"

"I'm not a wuss!"

"Are you a wuss, Draco Malfoy?!"

"I am not a wuss!" Draco shouted back, bring quite a few passing by students' attention to them.

"Then go out there and get your man back!"

"I will!" Draco said and started walking through shelves of books.

Pansy watched him go, not going after him. She knew what's going to happen next.

"I can't do it!" Draco walked back through the shelves and collapsed on his chair.

"That's what I'm here for, darling."


End file.
